Contacts
This course covers the Contacts module in Quickenerp. Contacts are the foundation of your CRM – every customer, vendor, partner, and employee is stored as a contact record. Learn how to manage companies and individuals, use tags and segmentation, track activities, communicate via the chatter, and grant portal access.
| Responsible | System |
|---|---|
| Last Update | 07/21/2026 |
| Completion Time | 3 days 9 hours |
| Members | 1 |
Contacts Overview
View allContact Tags
Tags are coloured labels you assign to contacts for categorisation, filtering, and reporting. They are a simple but powerful way to segment your contact database.
Managing Tags
Go to Contacts > Configuration > Tags. Here you can:
- Create new tags – Give each tag a name and a colour (for visual distinction in kanban/list views).
- Edit existing tags – Change name or colour. All contacts with the tag update automatically.
- Merge tags – If "VIP" and "Very Important" are duplicates, merge them into one.
Common Tag Categories
| Category | Example Tags |
|---|---|
| Customer Tier | VIP, Gold, Silver, Bronze, Prospect |
| Industry | Technology, Healthcare, Finance, Manufacturing, Retail |
| Region | North America, EMEA, APAC, LATAM |
| Status | Active, Inactive, Lead, Closed Won, Closed Lost |
| Marketing | Newsletter, Opt-In, Do Not Email, Event Attendee |
Using Tags for Filtering
Once contacts have tags, you can:
- Filter – In Contacts list view, click Filters – Add Custom Filter – Field: Tags, Operator: Contains, Value: VIP. Shows only VIP contacts.
- Group By – Click Group By – Tags. Contacts are grouped by their tags. Untagged contacts appear in a separate section.
- Mailing Lists – Create dynamic mailing lists in Email Marketing using tags as criteria (e.g. all contacts with tag "Newsletter" AND tag "Active").
- Reports – In sales/purchase analysis reports, group by contact tags to see performance by segment.
Tags vs Other Categorisation
- Tags – Many-to-many. A contact can have multiple tags. Best for cross-cutting categories (a customer can be both "VIP" AND "Technology").
- Category/Industry – A single-value field on the contact form. One category per contact.
- Sales Team – Determines pipeline ownership, not categorisation.
Customer Portal
The customer portal allows your customers and vendors to log in and view their documents, communicate, and perform self-service actions – all without accessing the Quickenerp backend.
What Portal Users Can Do
| Feature | Available | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| View quotations | – | Can accept/decline quotations online. Acceptance auto-creates a sales order. |
| View invoices | – | See invoice details and download PDF. |
| Pay invoices online | – | If payment providers are configured (Stripe, PayPal, etc.). |
| View deliveries | – | See delivery status and tracking numbers. |
| View subscriptions | – | See active subscriptions and invoice history. |
| Update profile | – | Change email, phone, address, password. |
| View timesheets | – | If project portal access is enabled. |
| View tickets | – | If helpdesk is installed. |
Granting Portal Access to a Contact
- Open the contact record. It should be a Company (not Individual) with a valid email address.
- Click the Grant Portal Access button in the header.
- A dialog appears confirming the email and the portal group (typically "Portal"). You can select additional groups:
- Portal – Basic access to documents.
- Public – No login required, only public website content.
- User (backend) – NOT recommended for customers. This grants internal access.
https://yourcompany.quickenerp.com/my.Portal Security
- Portal users see ONLY documents where they are the customer/vendor. They cannot see other customers' data.
- Portal users cannot access the backend interface (the app switcher only shows the portal menu).
- You can enable Two-Factor Authentication for portal accounts if needed.
- Portal sessions expire after a period of inactivity (configure in Settings – General Settings – Security).
Bulk Importing Contacts
Use the import feature to load contacts from a CSV or Excel file. This is essential when migrating from another CRM or spreadsheet.
Preparing Your File
The simplest approach is to export a sample file first:
- Go to Contacts – switch to List view.
- Click Actions – Export All Records.
- Select these fields: Name, Company Name, Email, Phone, Mobile, Street, City, State, ZIP, Country, Tags.
- Check "Export with External IDs" only if you plan to update existing records later.
- Download the file. Use it as a template – delete the sample rows and add your own data.
Import Field Mapping
Key fields and how to populate them correctly:
| CSV Column Header | How to Fill | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Full name of the person or company | Required. 150 chars max. |
| Company Name | Company name OR use External ID | If you enter a new name, a new company contact is created. Use an existing name to link to an existing company. |
| Email address | Used for portal login and email communications. Must be unique if the contact has portal access. | |
| Country | Country name (English) | Must match Quickenerp's country names exactly (e.g. "United States", not "USA"). Use the export sample to see exact names. |
| State | State name (English) | Country must be specified first. State names must match Quickenerp's state names. |
| Tags | Tag names separated by commas | Existing tags are matched by name. New tags are created automatically. |
| Customer | TRUE or FALSE | Mark TRUE if this contact is a customer. Default is FALSE (no type). |
| Vendor | TRUE or FALSE | Mark TRUE if this contact is a supplier. |
| Is Company | TRUE or FALSE | TRUE for organisations, FALSE for individuals. |
Importing with Parent-Child Relationships
To import individuals under existing companies:
- First, ensure the company contacts already exist in the database (import or create them).
- Export the companies with External IDs.
- In your individuals import file, use the "Parent Company (External ID)" column instead of "Company Name" and enter the External ID value.
- This ensures individuals are linked correctly without ambiguity.
Post-Import Validation
After importing:
- Check the total count matches your source file.
- Spot-check a few records for data accuracy.
- Use the "Duplicates" filter (if available) to find potential duplicates.
- If errors occurred, Quickenerp shows a detailed error log. Download it, fix the rows, and re-import only the failed rows.